Mission and Vision

Larry Purcell Makes the following point:

You will hear much today about how the success of any business venture depends on its knowing its purpose. Mission and vision are terms frequently used in both secular and sacred areas to describe or define purpose. A business can spend a lot of its time and energy developing its mission and vision statements. The church has already been assigned its mission statement by our Lord (Matthew 28:18-20). These verses refer to the Great Commission, which is the mission of the church. This takes out all the guesswork and saves a congregation many hours of research. It is from these verses that a church's leadership will pray and seek from the Lord his vision for them. The term vision refers to how a church expresses its specific fulfillment of the Great Commission. (Management Essentials for Church Ministries page 245)

To me this simplifies my job. I must ruthlessly evaluate all that the church I lead does with the Great Commission as the measuring tool. Everything that does not fulfill the Great Commission is outside of the church's commission. The hard part of my job is to keep people and myself focused upon this mission and to not let the church become something it was not intended to become.

Does Theology Matter?

We live in a practical age. What works is the bottom line question. 'How to' books are big sellers. New programs and materials come in the mail each day promising to revitalize ministry. The search for that perfect solution that will solve all of the church's problems continues. Yet renewal remains elusive. Does theology matter in our age? Does what we believe about the church matter? Does what we believe about God matter? Does what we believe about man matter? Now we will all answer those questions in the affirmative. Of course theology matters we respond. Yet our practice of ministry reveals little thought for theology in our search for bottom line answers.

I just finished reading a book by Roger E. Olson entitled Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities. I was reminded again of God's great love for all people. Is that really at the foundation of my ministry practice? God's love someone wrote, is the foundation upon which all the doctrines of theology rest. How does that impact how I spend my time? How does that impact how the church allocates its resources? I must confess that a stranger examining my life and ministry could possibly conclude that God must love those in the church more than those not yet in the church. Is it possible my implicit theology does not match what I say is the theology I believe? Is it really true that God is not willing that any should perish but that all would come to repentance? How is this "theology" working itself out in my preaching and leadership? How is it impacting my prayer life? How about my daily life on my block? Is it possible that if my "professed theology" informed my practice that renewal and revival would occur? Or is theology something better kept in a thick old book on the library shelf?

Nothing New Under the Sun

I love to read books. I especially enjoy books about church history. They remind me that the issues and struggles and dilemmas that I experience as a person interested in renewing God's church, are not new. In fact I have found that the issues in church renewal are common to all ages. There truly is nothing new under the sun. The church is in constant need of renewal and it has been constantly renewed by God. The basic issues and principles do not change with the passing of time. The working out of the principles of church renewal must be adapted to specific historical contexts but the principles do not change with the passage of time.

I have in my library a small book written in 1675 by Phillip Jacob Spener entitled, "Pia Desideria or Heartfelt Desire for a God Pleasing Reform of the True Evangelical Church, Together with Several Simple Christian Proposals Looking Toward this End." God always raises up men and women in every age who have a heart felt desire to revive His church. God's desire is and always will be to bring renewal to his church. Spener's book is divided roughly into three sections. The first deals with the current state of the church and the need for renewal. The second asserts the possibility for reform. The final section list six concrete proposals for achieving reform (see introduction page 15 & 16). Sounds like it could be a present day church renewal conference or seminar.

Spener's book encourages me. It helps me to see that no matter how things look God is working to bring renewal. Spener was an optimist. He is reported to have said the following on his death bed, "During my life I have sufficiently lamented the condition of the church; now that I am about to enter the church triumphant, I wish to be buried in a white coffin as a sign that I am dying in the hope of a better church on earth." (page 25)

Be confident - be optimistic - God is working to renew His church. He always has and He always will. There is nothing new under the sun.

Are You Willing to Pay the Price?

God has continually brought me to the place where he asks me whether I am willing to pay the price to be used by him. Sometimes this question comes during times of prayer and sometimes it comes while I am reading scripture. Recently God used the book, "The Anointing" by Benny Hinn to ask me that question.

We are so used to God's grace that talking about paying a 'price' seems like bad theology. Yet as I read of people that God used mightily in the past to renew his church it seems that they paid the price. I think of Wesley, Edwards, Finney and Moody right on down to Billy Graham. Each of these men paid a price. The price it seems was total surrender of themselves. They became instruments that God could use. Their own comfort or agenda was no longer important. Balance in their lives was no longer important. Rather total surrender to Jesus was important. This meant that they eliminated from their lives things that might not have been 'sinful' but were not expedient. It meant they spent significant amounts of time in prayer and seeking God. It meant radical obedience in all areas. It meant passion and zeal. It meant being willing to be misunderstood and criticized.

I admit that I struggle reconciling this idea of total surrender with what I have been taught about living a balanced life. I also am aware of areas of failure in the lives of these 'mighty men of God' (Wesley's marriage comes to mind). Yet I can not get away from the conviction that there is a price to pay to be used by God. The question is asked succinctly by Benny Hinn, "Are you willing to pay the price for the anointing?"

A Haitian Prophecy

Water will gush in the wilderness and streams in the desert. Gladness and joy will overtake them and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Isaiah 35: 6b, 10b.

Poverty, disease, starvation and then on January 12th 2010 the earth shook. Now death, destruction, loss and grief join the brokenness that is Haiti.

On February 21st we step out of our cocoon into the devastation of Port Au Prince. Hungry people and collapsed buildings line the streets. Fragile tent cities arise amid the rubble. The entire country is in shock and grief.

Who can rebuild the rubble? Who can heal the brokenhearted? Can there be streams in the desert? Can the prophecy of Isaiah 35 be fulfilled? Will there be renewal?

We arrive at Marchand Desalines and we join a team of four doctors and one nurse for a week of ministry at the Claire Heureuse Hospital. Our assignment is to minister to the emotional and spiritual needs of the patients. We are at ground zero.

We move through the wards patient by patient:
• A five year old girl in the midst of an epileptic fit is healed through prayer.
• A woman who lost four children in the earthquake is comforted and converted.
• Many others are converted throughout the week.
• A 9 month old baby who had been drinking only sugar water for 3 days is
given milk to drink. The mother is converted.
• A woman dying of cancer is prayed for & comforted as Jesus takes her home.
• A woman dies as we pray for her. Several others die.
• The gospel is preached as the patients gather in the outdoor chapel at
6:30am each morning waiting for the clinics to open.
• An alcoholic repents and is given food for the first time in several days.
• Many patients receive grief counseling due to losses in the earthquake.
• Food is distributed at the hospital to about 80 people.
• A two month old baby whose mother died in the earthquake is adopted by her
aunt who was converted.
• The week ends with a funeral service for a young woman who died in the
earthquake and the family receives closure and the healing process begins.

As we pray and give sacrificially and go the prophecy begins its fulfillment. Healing and renewal come to the broken and grieving. Then suddenly one day the prophecy will be complete: Jesus will return and the desert of this world will become a spring eternal and sorrow and sighing will flee forever away. Renewal will be complete.


Crossroads Free Methodist Church: Team Haiti 2010
Pastors Willie & Daisy Kirchhofer, Carlos Rodriguez & Matthew Saldarini